Public sector funding
The public sector provides approx. 30 per cent of all spending on research and development in Germany. Thus Germany is one of the nations worldwide whose governments invest the most in R&D – both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP.
The Federal Republic of Germany is based on the principle of federalism and on constructive cooperation between the Federal Government and the 16 individual states, the so-called Länder. That entails a differentiated distribution of the responsibilities for and the financial costs of research and research funding. The Federal Government and the German states act independently with regard to the funding and organisation of research.
In addition to funding higher education, the public sector also finances non-university research organisations that are especially involved in fostering research talent.
The Federal Government and the Länder continue to finance funding organisations such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), whose main task is the selection and funding of the best research projects by scientists and scholars at higher education and public research institutions in Germany.
